Sea Turtle Action

So, I am really terrible about organizing my pictures. As I was going through them recently I came across a lot of pictures and stories I never told of our vacation to Florida in 2013.

We stayed for two weeks at my parents beach home in St. Augustine, FL. If you haven't been to St. Augustine and you live within a days drive-GO! Seriously, I don't know what you are waiting for....aside from the beach there is so much to do there. It is a fantastic place, and I basically grew up there and never get sick of it! Anyway, back to the turtles....

This was a fantastic trip and there was a lot of late season sea turtle action happening. Usually by late July all the turtles have laid their eggs and a lot of hatching is happening, but this time around we saw tons of tracks....

One other amazing thing that happened....my brother and I went for a very late night walk around midnight, neither of us could sleep and needed some quality sibling time I suppose so thought a walk and a drink would do us some good. Well, we happened to get lucky and actually saw a turtle who had just laid her eggs and was covering the hole, then made her way back to the ocean. We of course watched from afar as she made her way back to the ocean but it was pretty amazing, something most people never get to see.

We didn't get pictures of her because 1) we didn't have our phones and 2) we would have needed a flash and the turtles are very sensitive to light. The positioning of the moon guides them to and from the ocean, so any lights on shore and things like flashlights and camera flashes can disturb this, so if you ever see one just know your memories are good enough, let them alone and quietly, from afar watch them. Also, never ever touch them or the eggs.

Another interesting thing about the turtle we saw is she laid her nest really far down on the shore, super close to the ocean. There may have been something wrong with her as we've never seen a nest that close to the ocean, even the "turtle patrol" woman said it is very unusual for that to happen.

This was after the "turtle patrol" had come by, they saw the nest and were worried the eggs would get crushed by passers by or be endangered by the incoming tide, plus it was right in the middle of the driving path so they moved the nest, higher up.

This is the nest after they moved it.

Crabs can sometimes dig down and will eat on the eggs, that hole indicates something most likely got down there. :( There are several other predators that can snack on the eggs so these little guys have a lot to go through to try and survive.

Here are some more fun next pictures:

We wanted a picture with the nest, this was a good as it was going to get ;)

You can see from this picture how close that next we saw was to the ocean, I was standing at the shoreline....

Once the "turtle patrol" finds a nest they mark it with pink ribbon, then as the gestational period goes on they then mark it with different colored ribbons and will add cones around it as it gets closer to hatching to keep people away. The patrol will come down and check on the nests and make sure all the turtles made it, if there are some stuck they will help un-stick them or they will dispose of them if they didn't make it,. They also use this I believe to sort of track the turtle population.

This sign goes on all nests because believe it or not people are dumb enough to disturb these nests and steal eggs...

 Nests at sunrise....so beautiful!

If you want to read a little more on Florida sea turtles check out these websites:

Sea Turtle Conservancy

Vilano and Crescent Beach Turtle Patrol

Fish and Wildlife Research Institute Turtle Research

Sea Turtle Tracking

This was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I was so excited to see it with my brother because I hadn't seen him in nearly 4 years! So, the fact that we, like idiots, went on a late night walk with no flashlights during a full moon and got so lucky was fantastic! Spontaneity has its perks! 

Have you ever seen a turtle lay eggs or seen some hatch?

September Blogging Challenge: Dream Vacation

So, today we get to dream, and dream as big as we want! My dream vacation probably isn't like most people's. I don't want to go somewhere and just veg out on a beach all day....I did that every summer in my teenage-hood. When I vacation I want to get out and do stuff, experience things!!

So....here would be my dream vacation in pictures:

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So highlights that I have to get to in Europe: 

London

Paris

Venice

Madrid

So, those are just a few of the places I'd visit on my dream vacation. I'm sure when I get the opportunity to actually plan that dream vacation I will add more places to the list to visit. I don't really have a list of things I'd do in those areas yet, well that's a lie I know some things, but, I think those are enough to keep me occupied and dreaming for now! :)

Have you taken your dream vacation yet? If not, where would you go?

Will My Days Ever Be Normal Again?!

Well, today is Tuesday. I arrived home from my nearly month long holiday way too late last night. Today I woke up way too early for a wayward traveler at 6am, threw in a T25 video to complete, jumped in the shower, fixed some cereal and a banana (thankfully my wonderful Mr. did a little shopping for me on Sunday) jumped in the car and began the three hour sojourn to Seattle-Tacoma International to pick up the teenager's dear friend who flew all the way up here from Florida. Let me tell you, I may sleep the next three days! My internal clock is all kinds of messed up. I can say though we have had a ton of fun. I do love traveling and being busy so this really has been super fun for me. In keeping with my travels for just a little longer I am going to share a fun activity we did during our vacation....kayaking!!!

This took quite a bit of discussion because my brother and his wife had never been kayaking before. My brother is the type of guy who won't really jump into anything with out really knowing how to do it. He wanted to do a guided tour but I wanted to take the teenager and wasn't paying $100 for a guided tour. So, I convinced him to go to Anastasia Water Sports. We called 24 hours in advance to reserve two tandem kayaks. When we got there at 9:15, just 15 minutes after they opened they were ready to go. They asked us to give them a little time to get everything all set up because they open at nine which really means they get there at 9 ;)....life is a beach afterall! So, the guy gives us a little instruction (it is pretty much get in and paddle lol) and we were off. If you've never been you do get a little wet when kayaking so make sure you bring a water proof camera or a case for your camera. I wouldn't really recommend bringing a cell phone or anything like because I think it would detract form getting in touch with nature.

Anastasia Water Sports is located in Anastasia State Park off of Salt Run. Salt run is a nature preserve area so when you go out you can expect to see a lot of wild life! But, as you pull out if you are going out a low tide you'll easily be able to touch the bottom of the run. There are also lots of people out fishing and one guy was even sitting in his beach chair in the middle of the run! So, going at low tide is a great time to go if you were wanting to get out of your kayak at all. The guy who helped us load into our kayak's even said that a lot of people get out at the sandbar's and tan, swim, etc. So, as we begin to kayak there are tons of fish jumping and a lot of birds. We then came along a couple of, what we believe, are porpoises swimming and jumping because they were obviously finding some good food! I got this great picture of them swimming and even got a great video! Check those out here:

Porpoises splashing!

It was such an amazing experience I was so glad to get to share that with my kiddo! We were even able to work the tandem kayak together really well....(last time was a nightmare lol). So, we kayaked for a while it was probably a couple of miles...we did a total of two full hours! We went all the way down to the lighthouse and close to the Conch House Marina. The kiddo an I were getting tired so we didn't go the full way to the Marina but my brother & sister in law did and they said it was beautiful. The kiddo and I just sort of floated around the run, enjoyed the quiet, and just the nice bonding time. 

Have to be careful in this area as there are "rocks"...obviously lol!

I approve of this activity! Tons of fun!

All-in-all I definitely recommend Anastasia Water Sports. They have the best prices I've found in town for renting and they seem to have plenty of kayaks to go around. The people who work the desk seemed very organized and super polite.

This was my favorite activity we did on vacation I think. It was peaceful, we got a lot of sun, I got to spend time with three of my favourite people in the world, two of which I don't get to see too often. I will say though kayaking isn't necessarily for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of upper body work so I wouldn't take anyone under age 10. 

Wow! What a vacation!

Hello everyone! My posting has been sort of erratic as we've been on holiday. I did an initial post here about our vacation. It was really more of a fun little photo dump but here is a bit more info about our actual trip. There are some things I am excluding just because I think they deserve their own posts!

The first place we visited is the place I grew up: Jacksonville, FL.

My parents and my in-laws live just a few miles from one another. While here the first week we didn't actually do a whole heck of a lot honestly. We mostly hung out a home. We did go shopping, trying to find the husband a Jacksonville Jaguars Jersey. Since they've just come out with new ones we sadly had no luck, but that's how it rolls sometimes. Some things we did get to do that we were looking forward to included mostly eating at restaurants we don't have up in Canada. So, here's the low down.

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Bono's Real Pit BBQ. I grew up eating this stuff, my brother worked there for quite a while when I was younger so this place is near and dear to my heart. They honestly have the best sweet sauce known to man. I picked up quite a few bottles and am shipping them back to our place in Canada!!!

Next we checked out Chick-Fil-A and got a chicken sandwhich. Let me tell you no matter where we have traveled there is no chicken sandwich like that of chick-fil-a. We won't have it again for a very, very long time, so I really savoured it!

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Next was Chili's. Hubby really loves those chicken fingers! Get them done extra crispy with an El Presidente Margarita. Yum, yum!

We got some really great quality time in with the family too. I think it's really important to state here that good quality family time doesn't have to mean you spend a ton of money to be together. We had a fantastic time watching wrestling with my mother in law and father in law. As well as going to the beach and playing in the waves with all of my nieces and nephews and my brother in law and sister in law. We also spent a lot of time at my in law's pool as well as playing board games.

Beach we grew up going to! Pier used to be awesome and have a cool restaurant (it was probably really crappy lol but as a kid it was fun to go to). 

My new fave game! The Mr. is going to be sorry he let his family introduce me to this! ;)

The second place we visited: St. Augustine, FL

Ok, so this was supposed to be just a one week endeavour. But, due to my ever increasing fascination with sea turtles in turned into a two week ordeal. 

The first day there we actually surprised my nephew. My brother & sister in law knew we were coming but my nephew, who sees my daughter every year almost, didn't know. So when we walked in it was a huge surprise. He was so cute & so bashful when we walked out of the room after he got here! But, the next morning we saw this at the end of our boardwalk: 

A fresh turtle nest and tracks! It was so amazing that same day after doing quite a bit of running (6 miles) we had a bbq with some family friends. I don't want to violate anyone's privacy by posting pictures so I'll stick to showing off my plate of food: 

And here is my watermelon cake:

I will post a tutorial on how to do this soon! 

The next morning we did a really long run and decided to eat out at our favourite restaurant in town (just 3/4 of a mile from our place) Southbeach Grill. This place is so delicious and so dependable. Only once or twice can I ever remember waiting for a table. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all equally delicious. I will be doing a whole other review on this later as it is a family favourite and I want to make sure I give it the glory it deserves. ;)

On our way home we had this weather on the horizon: 

So, we headed into town to go to the carousel when it decided to start raining. Instead of letting it dampen our day we headed way into town to the outlet mall. I will have pictures to come of what goodies we got, but I will say we got some amazing deals!!! It could just be I am used to Canadian prices, but we got almost all of the kiddo's shopping done for back to school and I managed to get a few fun things ;)

The next few days were full of swimming, surfing, and just generally enjoying the beach. My brother and I went on a late night walk on the beach and got to see the most amazing site I've ever witnessed: a sea turtle laying eggs!!! I couldn't believe our luck! Even if I'd have had my camera I wouldn't have take a picture as it would have been too dark and I wouldn't have disturbed her with a flash. We watched her for a few moments but were so nervous about disrupting her that we turned and walked away when we came back she was already gone. She layed her nest a little to close to the water so the turtle patrol did move her nest to closer up by the dunes. 

This was the turtle nest my brother & I saw laid late in the night. You can see where the turtle patrol had already dug it up. An interesting thing my brother & I noticed was that they make one set of tracks coming up and a second set going back out!

This is the next all moved. They have it nice and snug up in the dune away from the drivers and away from the pedestrians. There were 136 eggs!!

In all the research we have done my dad came across a video of a loggerhead that a couple took on our beach back at the end of may! Here is the video, it's well worth a watch! They are an amazing creature. So giant and strong!

We then had more fun swimming and just enjoying the sun! Then, at some point (days are sort of running together on me here) we went to a fantastic restaurant for dinner called The Floridian. This place was so delicious I decided I will do a whole separate review on it later. I really want to be able to highlight it.

After we did lots more working out, the men went fishing and made us fresh fish! My Aunt and cousin came to visit us so that was nice! We then went out kayaking one day. I will be doing a completely separate post on that as the company we rented from was great and the whole process was very easy. We were able to see a ton of wildlife and just really enjoy the time with my brother, sister-in-law, and daughter. I was so glad to be able to bring my kiddo along on that. It was an incredible experience. Plus, it really helped us reach a new level in our relationship having to work together to row that kayak (which previous experience told us could be disasterous ;))!

We've also been to the farmer's market, made s'more's, and saw this adorable little turtle!

S'mores with GIANT marshmallows!

Strawberry lemonade slush at the farmer's market at the St. Augustine Pier!

View of the market.

Cute turtle we saw crossing the road in Anastasia State Park.

But, this wasn't all we did! We also did a couple of hikes, had BBQ at a cute little shack, and got to see the remains of a really old plantation. I will do reviews on all those later as I want to include tons of pictures and really encourage anyone in the area to go check it all out! ;)

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little photo dump and the little bit of info I was willing to provide!

Tell me, where did you vacation this year?

What I Ate Wedenesday/WODs-Travel Edition #10

Hey Everybody!!!

I've been on vacation so my posts are kind of crazy! But, here I am with another What I Ate Wednesday!!!

First, we'll talk about workouts, just because I've been on vacation doesn't mean I've been slacking in this department. I can't remember exactly what workouts I've done so far since last Wednesday as we've been super busy, but here's what I got:

Thursday: Focus T25, 1 mile run/1 mile walk

Friday: Focus T25

Saturday: a little over 6 total mile run

Sunday: 5 mile run

Monday: Day off knee was hurting but walked a solid 4 miles on the beach at least

Tuesday: Day off but probably walked a good 8 miles between the beach and after dinner in town. We also did a ton of swimming in the ocean and pool.

Today: 3 mile run, walking at the farmer's market and will jump waves in the ocean and do a little boogie boarding

Here's what I've been eating. I will say I am eating a little more white bread than usual, but after yesterday's lunch I won't be having any more of that. But, I've been enjoying myself and sharing good meals with my family. I'm keeping it fun, but definitely watching my portions. 

My mom and I split this egg and cheese bagel it was so tasty!

Sampler dinner at IHOP with my extended family. I ate every last bite after hours at the beach and pool!

Hummus, peppers, spinach, avocado, sandwich thin for lunch at the beach!

Watermelon Cake....that's a real life watermelon under that frosting!

BBQ Dinner...used a Hawaiian bun for my hot dog, some pasta salad and baked beans. After a day in the sun at the beach and pool + a 6 mile run I needed those carbs!

Coffee at our favorite little seaside restaurant.

Breakfast at our favorite little seaside restaurant....review to come! 

Local place in town where we are vacationing. They use all local ingredients! It was amazing...review to come!

I personally didn't eat these, but my kiddo did! She was needing some serious chocolate last night so I made her S'mores...my Mom (her Nanya) bought the world's biggest marshmallows! ...that's a s'more!

Well, that's it for What I Ate Wednesday! I hope you all have a good one!

Traveling to: Austin, TX

Austin, TX

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Austin is a great city. It's actually a "city within a park", at least that's what it says on all the signs throughout the city. Austin is the 7th city my husband and I have lived in since we got married *way*  back in 1999. It was a fantastic place to live. It is a large city and many people say "Austin" but really they are referring to North Austin which, in my opinion, is way too far out to actually be Austin proper. I worked in North Austin for a while and it was quite a drive each and every day. I wish we had known more about the city when we moved there as hubby's work was also a 30 minute drive, mine was easily 45 minutes on a good day!

But, traffic aside, if you live in Austin proper and pretty much stay in that area there are some amazing things to see and do, which is what I want to put together and address here. If it is bold and in coloured text, it is something that you honestly cannot miss. Seriously, it will be one of your biggest life regrets ;)

Attractions

Barton Creek Green Belt

This is a great hike! It’s really beautiful. It is a swimming hole if it’s been raining so wear a bathing suit as there is nothing like swimming in a natural watering hole!!! It was mine & Cammi’s favorite place to go & I’d run often there with a girl friend.

Mount Bonnell

When we moved to Austin everyone talked this place up. When I was done I was a little underwhelmed as I expected the “climb” to be much tougher!  Of course I was also coming off a half marathon & P90X bender so my expectations for difficulty were pretty high! But, it is a beautiful walk & the view you get at the end is spectacular! It’s a must see for sure! It's also a great place for exercise because of the stairs.

Barton Springs Pool

Go swim at Barton Springs Pool.  It’s a beautiful area of town & there is a lot of history around the pool if you go to the link it will tell you all about it! The pool is cold though, so be prepared!!! There is a concession stand within the park.

Zilker Park

A super cute park with lots of walking trails. Barton Springs pool & Zilker Botanical Garden a located within the park. There is a fun train you can ride through the park. The train is good to do once your legs are tired from hiking all the trails! This park is also a great place to play catch, frisbee, or fly a kite! There is also a frisbee golf  "range", so if you are into that I hear it's a great course!

Austin Nature & Science Centre

Austin Nature & Science Centre is within Zilker Park as well. It's a fantastic place to take the kids, my daughter could spend hours upon hours there! The last time we were there they had a dinosaur trail that you could walk and then at the end there were sand pits the kids could dig in & "excavate" different bones! There was also a wildlife refuge in the back area. It was interesting to read about how the different animals came to live there and why. Inside there is lots of info about the earth with live in and space, fossil's, etc. It's very much a hands on place and will keep everyone busy for hours on end!

Zilker Botanical Garden

Zilker Botanical Garden is a just off a main street. The first time we went there I was very skeptical because I figured our experience would be marred by all the traffic. However, when you walk in it's like being in a quite perfect oasis. It's almost like you temporarily leave the city. The different sections of gardens are amazing. I don't want to give any spoilers because seeing them all for the first time absolutely makes the whole experience.

Lady Bird Lake

This is a nice later afternoon walk or great for a nice run! While you are there see if you can check out the bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge. If you catch them on a day they fly out at sunset it's a pretty spectacular sight!

Texas State Capitol

You never want to miss seeing a capitol building. We've lived in several different capitol cities and we always go to check out the capitol buildings and learn more about the history of the city. If you can catch the legislature when it's in session it is well worth it! The experience will never be forgotten.

Texas State History Museum

Visiting the State History Museum was an incredible experience. I got to spend it on a field trip with my daughter's class. Their exhibits are constantly changing and are really well done. After, if you get the chance to walk around the University of Texas the campus is beautiful!

Hamilton Pool

This natural pool with a little waterfall I hear is well worth the visit. We never managed to make it there, sadly, but if we ever make it back to Austin it is at the top of my list of things to do.

Sixth Street Bars & Clubs

If you are going without children, are visiting friends/family and can get out without the kids, going down to Sixth Street is worth the adventure! We loved to start at a little dueling piano bar then hop from club to club after that. It is a bit of a younger crowd down there, but that is what we liked about it! After a certain time in the evenings the street itself is 18 and up only, so be forewarned if you are downtown with the kids!

Alamo Drafthouse
The Alamo Drafthouse I feel is an Austin staple. I didn't put it at the top of the list though because when it comes down to it, it is just a movie theater. If you are going for an extended stay, I'd say a week or more it's definitely worth going and catching a movie there. If you are just going for a long weekend skip it and get it next time. It's a cozy theater, where you can dine while you watch. You can catch new releases or old flicks that are set to a theme such a heckling, sing alongs, etc. It's a super fun environment and the food kicks ass! Getting a $5 milkshake is 100% worth it!!!

Food

Regular Food

The Salt Lick

The Salt Lick is a can't miss place. Seriously, you cannot miss it, I can't stress this enough! Also, I linked to the Driftwood location, only go to that location. It is the original location and I think serves the best food and has the best ambiance. Hubby tried the location once in North Austin, and another friend tried the location at the airport and both agreed those locations are just not the same as Driftwood. Driftwood is also a bring your own beer/wine place. Don't be shy, people often bring in whole coolers full of beer/wine. There is also a winery on site that they had just opened when we first visited there in 2010.

Rudy's Bar-B-Que

This is a staple chain around Austin, not sure if they are anywhere else in Texas. But, the brisket is out of this world! If it is your first time there, tell them as they have a really special tradition they do for newbies. I didn't get it as hubby knew I'd be super embarrassed but I've seen it happen to other's and it's worth the experience. Highlights: Mr. loves the extra moist brisket, I prefer the lean. The creamed corn is a must have, you'll never taste anything like it again in your life. Also, just because you're having bbq you should grab a banana pudding-delish!

Perry's Steakhouse

There are quite a few really good steak houses in downtown our favorite was Perry’s. They had a live piano player & sometimes a bassist. The patio is really nice in the evenings, even in the summer. 

Dessert

Amy's Ice Cream

Amy's  is a local place that has grown by leaps & bounds. The quality has not decreased with the success of the business, however. If anything the flavours have become more unique and delicious. Plus, since we lived there we were able to get a stamp card to earn free ice creams and whatnot. Customer service is always top notch and the employees have their own unique personalities they are allowed to share with their customers.

Gourdough's Doughnuts

These are the most insane doughnuts you'll ever have in your life! I promise you, you will never have anything like it again in your life. Also, you can go and split one with someone, but I recommend getting your own & trying one another's that way you can try a couple of different ones. Each one has it's own unique combination. You'll never finish a whole one, so don't even try, but they are absolutely worth every. single.  penny.

Coffee/Adult Beverages

Mozart's Coffee Roaster's

Seated right on the water, Mozart's  is one of the few coffee shops with a view this amazing. It's a great place to go sit, have a coffee, and read a good book or get some work done. There are two restaurants on either side that are quite delicious as well, but I don't know the names of them. 

The Oasis

The Oasis is an Austin staple I think. It sits on Lake Travis and has amazing views. When we learned we were moving to Austin, the first thing my Aunt did was go through her Southern Living magazines & sent me a small article on the Oasis and how wonderful this place was. I'll be honest if you go, just go for drinks. The food was mediocre, at best. BUT, the sunset's are truly amazing!!! Going for a beverage & maybe an appetizer is a very good idea to get to sit outside and enjoy the view.

Texas Wine Trail

When you think of Texas you certainly don't think of wine! But, Texas does have it's own Wine Trail right down in the hill country! I did not have the pleasure of enjoying it as my Mr. doesn't drink and I feel bad dragging him on excursions where he's basically there to be my driver. But, the hill country itself it beautiful so if you have a group that is super into wine tasting taking a tour of the different wineries in the area is a great idea!

North Austin

Originally I wasn't going to include things to do in North Austin, but I do realize if you are going to visit family many of them may not live in South Austin or Downtown like we did. Most of our friends actually lived in North Austin, so I figured I would highlight a few of the things we did while there.

Round Rock Donuts

My Mr. tells me these donuts are pretty amazing. People used to bring them into his work frequently and he loved them. So, if you're in the area...get some!

Rock'N River Family Aquatic Centre

I took the kiddo here once. It was super fun, she really enjoyed it. They have all kinds of fun stuff for people of all ages. The water slides were her absolute favourite.

  

Let the summer vacation countdown begin...

Woohoo! The weekend has arrived!!! After a day off of school and what not yesterday to get the little one settled in, I am ready for a day to just chill and relax. That being said, I am so excited for summer vacation to begin. I love just being able to sleep in until hubby has to go to work then spend the day ticking things off at our leisure. It stays light until about 10 pm here so our days are long and lazy!! I know many of you are officially out of school now-we still have 3 long weeks to go-so in an effort to keep my sanity and dream of those long lazy summer days I put together some summer fun ideas to share with you all!!

So, besides school coming to an end and getting to just laze around another exciting bonus for us this summer is we get to go visit family in Florida for a little while and I get to see my brother, sister in law, nephew, and meet my niece! I have seen most of them in about 3 years, and I've never met my niece so it will prove to be a super exciting summer. The kiddo also has a girlfriend from Florida coming up to visit us! See, it just keeps getting better and more exciting the more I type!!!

I've been working on a summer bucket list for us so we have some fun goals and things we can look forward to accomplishing before going back to school. Here it is:

Summer Bucket List 2013

01 Climb Grouse Grind	23 Visit a Botanical Garden
02 Take silly pictures at the Top of the grind	24 Visit Kit’s Beach
03 See the eye of the Wind	25 Visit 2nd Beach pool
04 Check out the Peak of the Grind	26 Hike Pacific Spirit Park
05 Zip Line	27 Read 5 book’s-All from Different Genre’s
06 Go to the Aquarium	28 Make Popsicle's
07 See & Explore a lighthouse	29 Go Kayaking
08 Hike 4 Out of Town Trails	30 Have dinner on a Patio
09 Have a Park Picnic	31 Take walks @ Sunset
10 Have a Beach Picnic	32 Explore Stanley Park
11 Collect Sea Shells	33 Do Yoga Outside
12 Explore a Cemetery	34 Get a Picture with Every Relative you Visit
13 Find a Tombstone from 155-1600’s & Write a Story About that Person	35 Create Poem Art From an Old Book
14 Build a SandCastle	36 Have a Movie Marathon
15 Make a picture in the Sand with colored Bubbles	37 Create & Prepare one Unique Recipe
16 Learn a new Card Game	38 Play Frisbee
17 Teach Someone a New Card Game	39 Fly a Kite
18 Learn to Stand-Up PaddleBoard	40 Have a Sundae Bar
19 Play with Sparklers	41 Watch a Sunrise on the Atlantic
20 Watch Fireworks	42 Watch a Sunset on the Pacific
21 Make S’More’s	43 Make a Summer 2013 T-Shirt
22 Visit 3 Museums	44 Spend one Entire day outside

I have no idea how to make it printable. I tried several different tutorials but google docs was not liking how I made this so I just copied & pasted it. 

So, our summer vacation doesn't start for 3 weeks. I am making this list now though so we can sock away some money for the expensive things (such as ziplining), but also so when the 29th comes and my overly active teen is looking at me with giant owl eyes saying "what do we do now" I have a game plan!

Some of these things are very specific to us and our area, the vacation we will be taking, etc. I did try to make them fairly generic though. The Grouse Grind is a path, with "stairs" almost that goes up the side of Grouse Mountain. You start at the bottom of the trail & make your way up to the peak. It's a fabulous climb, most people can do it in 30 minutes, the one time I did it before the rain last year I did it in an hour & 5 minutes. It's really tough. But, the top is gorgeous! I am looking forward to taking the kiddo and doing the whole peak experience with the eye of the wind (a big wind turbine), seeing the grizzly's, the lumberjack show, and just exploring the top of the mountain as I've never been to the top of a mountain!! I added links to our local places we will be going, but you can google those thing in your area, they are quite easy to find.

I do have some other bucket list ideas to link you all to:

(FYI the Img Credit will link you to where I found the original image through my search, none of these are my idea. The last one if someone knows who that belongs to I'd love to link directly do them, but it was an image only found on pinterest. So, if someone knows who the original blogger is let me know!)

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I used this last year when we moved & it was a life saver! With all the unpacking and stuff it still allowed us to have a great time, yet get things done!

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Here are links to lists of suggestions for creating your own summer bucket list: 

101 Fun Things for Teens to do this Summer

50 Ideas For Your Summer Bucket List

30 Fun things to do with your kids

100 Free Things to do with Your Kids this Summer

If you still want more ideas come follow my Summer boards on Pinterest here: 

Summer

Summer Fun

Summer Vacation 2013 

So, those should give you some good ideas. Now here is a little printable I created so you can make your own bucket list. It's pretty basic, it did have a border when I created it but that isn't showing up in google drive. *sniff, sniff* But, it will allow you to at least print something & start brain storming with your kids what you all want to do this summer!!!